ASU -- Arizona State (16-12, 5-6 Pac-10 Southern Division and
ranked No. 15 Baseball America and No. 17 Collegiate Baseball in the
polls) hosts a three-game conference matchup with California this
weekend and will try to stop a six game skid (its longest of the
season).

THIS WEEK ON TV and RADIO -- KMVP 860 AM, home of Sun Devil
baseball, will broadcast the California series. Tom Dillon and Bob
Eger will provide the play-by-play and color commentary respectively.
COX Sports (Channel 22) will broadcast's Friday's game with California
(3/20) live at 2 p.m. MST. George Allen and Doug Gerlach will handle
the play-by-play and color commentary respectively.

DID YOU KNOW? -- Arizona State has not been shutout in its
last 162 games (last time shutout was a 0-9 loss to USC on April 7,
1995) ... the Devils have allowed only 10 stolen base (10-24) through
28 games ... Coach Pat Murphy is averaging 42.6 wins per season at the
Div. 1 level (429 wins over 10 years) ... ASU pitchers have thrown
three two-hitters (one complete, two combined) and one one-hitter
(combined) in 1998 ... over a two and a half week period (17 days,
from 3/6 to 3/22) ASU will play a total of 13 games ... it started
with a Six-Pac series with UCLA (three games), then moved to a
two-game mid-week series with No. 8 Oklahoma. ASU then traveled to
L.A. for more Six-Pac action with No. 3 USC (three games) and headed
to Fresno for a two-game series with Fresno State. ASU is finally at
home for a three-game stint with California this weekend

TALK ABOUT TOUGH -- Once again, Arizona State has arguably one
of the toughest schedules in the nation this year. The Sun Devils will
play 34 games versus Top 25 teams (preseason top 25 by Baseball
America). Five Six-Pac teams were ranked in the preseason top 25.
Currently four Six-Pac teams are ranked in the top 10 (according to
Baseball America). Five Pac-10 teams are ranked in the top 25 while
eight SEC teams are in the top 25. That means 13 of 25 teams ranked by
Baseball America are from the two conferences.

ON THE BRINK-- Junior Andrew Beinbrink (San Diego, Calif.), who
has already picked up some preseason accolades, will anchor ASU's
infield from third base in 1998. The 6-3 infielder batted .380 last
year with 92 hits, 72 RBI, 60 runs scored, nine homeruns and 23
doubles. Beinbrink is is one of only three players to start every game
this season. He leads the team with 11 doubles and 40 RBI and has
batted safely in 8 of the last 10 games. He is third on the team in
runs scored (27) and third in hits (34). Eighteen of his 34 hits have
been for extra bases. Beinbrink leads the team in two-out RBIs with 18
and is 10-11 in stolen bases.

LEON PULLS DOUBLE-DUTY -- Senior Richy Leon (San Luis, Ariz.)
will once again split his time in the field and on the mound in 1998.
Leon will see time at second base and as a righthanded starter for the
Devils. He is currently batting .282 with 15 runs scored and 11 RBI.
He picked up a win in his first start of the season, going 6.1,
allowing only one earned run vs. No. 1 Stanford. For his efforts, he
was named Six-Pac Pitcher of the Week. Since then, however, Leon has
received two no decisions. The senior has a 3.92 ERA in five
appearances (20.2 IP) with 17 K's. He is holding opponent lefties to a
.200 average. Leon hit his second homerun of the season with a solo
shot vs. California (2/20).

COUNTDOWN TO 500 -- Arizona State head coach Pat Murphy will
reach the 500-win mark during the 1998 season. His career record
stands at 497-242-3 over 13 seasons as a head coach. Murphy need just
three victories to reach the 500-win plateau. He will become the
youngest coach at age 39 to reach the 500-win mark (with 75% of wins
from Division 1).

THE LAST HURRAH -- Senior outfielder Mikel Moreno will end a
long and successful career at ASU after this season. Through 28 games,
he is batting .317 with 25 RBI and 39 hits. He has also swiped eight
bases in the 1998 season and is batting well against righthanders
(.356). The speedy rightfielder has started all 28 contests and put
together a 21-game hitting streak dating back to the 1997 season
before going 0-for-5 vs. FSU (2/7). Moreno, a two-year starter,
should leave his mark in several Sun Devil career categories including
career doubles, runs and hits.

PITCHERS CORNER -- A lot of new faces will grace the bullpen
in 1998, including junior transfer Chuck Crumpton (Mesquite, Texas)
who has been superb as ASU's No. 1 closer. Crumpton has pitched 33.0
innings of relief for the Devils in 1998 and was a part of both of
ASU's combined shutout victories. He sports an impressive 1.36 ERA
and a 2-1 record with three saves. The 6-4 righthanded pitcher helped
lead Northeast Texas CC to the '96 Junior College National
Championship and was the winning pitcher in the championship game over
Meridian JC. Freshman pitchers joining the roster are LHP Drew
Friedberg, RHP Robby Milner and RHP Chad Pennington. Pennington (1-1,
3.86 ERA), in his third collegiate start, pitched 6.0 innings and
recorded a career-high 10 strikeouts in the no-decision with Fresno
State. Transfer Aaron Kramer (Grand Canyon U.) has also joined the ASU
pitching staff and has been strong out of the bullpen. He picked up
his second win at ASU vs. UCLA, pitching 2.1 innings of relief. He is
2-2 overall with a 3.24 ERA in 11 appearances. All are expected to see
time on the mound as well as sophomore Jay Gehrke (2-1, 8.31 ERA) and
Colin Call (1-0, 2.89 ERA)..

UP NEXT -- Arizona State will travel across town to face Grand
Canyon University in a midweek game (3/24) before heading to Seattle,
Wash. for a three-game series with 20th-ranked Washington (3/27-3/29).